Star Wars Rey Resistance Costume Part 2 – Blaster

Rey’s LPA NN-14 blaster is given to her by Han Solo and she uses it throughout Star Wars The Force Awakens. She uses this blaster to shoot several stormtroopers, attempts to shoot Kylo Ren, and takes it when she searches for Luke. In this segment we show how to assemble and finish a 3D printed model to create a replica of this amazing piece!

For this prop blaster i decided to use a 3D print, since the LPA NN-14 blaster has a unique shape and some details seemed hard to replicate by building the piece from scratch. I purchased one of the kits available for sale on etsy.

The 3d print consists of several pieces which need to be prepped, primed, assembled and finished to create the blaster. The kit I purchased included the screws on the outside of the blaster, but you can also purchase stainless steel screws on ebay if you have a kit without them.

I started by filling and sanding the pieces with 150 and 220 grit sandpaper to minimize the filament lines in the pieces. To fill in small imperfections on the blaster pieces, I used Bondo scratch filler available from Walmart, Amazon or most auto parts stores. It’s best to use this filler outdoors as it has a strong solvent odor. When I was satisfied with the smoothness of the pieces, I primed all the parts with flat black spray primer. The grips for the blaster would be left black, so no additional work was needed for those pieces. Since the flat end pieces of the blaster body would be harder to finish separated from the body, I went ahead and glued them in place using Testors plastic cement.

Next came the finish. Rey’s blaster has a metallic aluminum type body and barrel, with accent weathering in black and gray. To create this effect, I used Rub N Buff in silver leaf color. Rub N Buff is a unique wax finish that contains real metal to give a more authentic metal look than traditional paint. I decided to apply the finish to each piece before the final assembly, to make it easier to apply to all the surfaces.

I used a cotton cloth to apply small amounts of the Rub N Buff finish, being careful not to cover any of the detail areas I wanted to leave black. As the finish is buffed more, it becomes somewhat reflective and metallic. I found it worked best with multiple thin coats. To create the weathered or dirty areas on Rey’s blaster, I just removed some of the Rub N Buff finish with acetone on a cotton swab.

Once I was satisfied with the silver finish, it was time to install the screws on various pieces of the blaster. Most of the screw holes on the 3D printed pieces needed to be enlarged for the screws to easily fit flush, so I drilled them out, being careful not to damage the blaster in the process.

To install the screws I used tiny amounts of superglue applied with a toothpick to both the bottom of the screw heads and the holes in the blaster. Once all the screws were in place, I assembled the blaster pieces using more plastic cement. The Rub N Buff finish needs a significant time to cure, since it is a wax, so I let the blaster sit untouched for several days. After the Rub N Buff was dry, I attached the two grips using the nuts and screws that came with the kit.

Rey’s LPA NN-14 blaster has an area of blue colored scorched metal at the end of the barrel. I added this detail by mixing some shades of blue and rust acrylic paint with added water-based polyurethane and applied it to the barrel end. The polyurethane keeps the paint from easily rubbing off.

Below is the completed blaster inside the leather holster from Part 1 of the Star Wars Rey Resistance Costume series. Click here to learn how to make Rey’s hip holster for the blaster.

Thanks again. “I know all about waiting.” We are constantly adding and tweaking the parts so even I am not sure what the final product will look like or when it will completed (Celebration 2017?). I should have the belt post up next.

To my knowledge there is no commercially available pattern that has the correct seams to work with the vest. Simplicity 6251 pattern is in the ballpark but has front princess seams, a separate collar piece, and is missing the peplum seam. We ended up making our own pattern but due to the size, it isn’t something that can be uploaded. I will be covering the construction and fabric used for it in a future post.